I came out as an atheist in 1982, although I had left the Catholic Church at least ten years earlier. My mom had a conniption over this and spent the next two decades or more saying novenas and donating to the Church for prayers on my behalf. All this accomplished was to confirm once and for all in my mind the inefficacy of prayer. If anyone else in my family couldn't deal with the fact that I was an atheist, they kept quiet about it.
"The world is my country; all of humanity are my brethren; and to do good deeds is my religion." (Thomas Paine)
